King Michael of Romania’s Funeral

Members of the Romanian Royal Family, Foreign Royalty and Heads of State attended the State Funeral of King Michael of Romania on December 16th. King Michael died in Switzerland on December 5th, at the age of 96. He first became King in 1927, and though he hasn’t been the reigning Head of State since 1947, the Government is giving the late King a State Funeral, in line with the plans to give the Royal Family Official Status in Romania.

After arriving in Romania on December 13th, the late King’s body lay in State in the Hall of Honour at Peles Castle for the day, before being transported to the Throne Hall of the Royal Palace in Bucharest, where the Coffin lay in State and members of the public filed past to pay their respects, until the day of the Funeral.

On December 16th, after a short religious service was held in the Throne Hall of the Royal Palace, the coffin was laid in the Royal Palace Square for a military and religious ceremony. Afterwards, the funeral cortege walked from the Square to the Patriarchal Cathedral. Following a Funeral Mass at the Cathedral, the funeral cortege traveled to the Baneasa Royal Railway Station in Bucharest, from where they traveled to Curtea de Arges, and made their way to Curtea de Arges Cathedral. King’s Michael coffin was laid on a catafalque in the Cathedral, before a short religious service, and then a funeral procession from the Cathedral to the New Episcopal and Royal Cathedral for the private burial of the Late King Michael.

Royal guests included King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia (King Michael’s first cousin) of Spain, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, the Prince of Wales (King Michael’s cousin) , Queen Anne Marie (married to King Michael’s first cousin), Prince Nikolaos, and Princess Irene of Greece (King Michael’s first cousin), Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, Crown Prince Alexander (son of King Michael’s first cousin) and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia, Crown Prince Leka II and Crown Princess Elia of Albania, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Austria, Princess Muna of Jordan, the Duke of Braganza, the Prince of Venice, Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and many members of Austrian, German, and French Royalty and Nobility.

4 thoughts on “King Michael of Romania’s Funeral”

Is King Michael of Romania the last of the heads of state during WWII to die? Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg was a soldier during the war and Queen Elizabeth II served in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, but neither of them were heads of state at the time. I don’t know if we can consider Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria a head of state since he was only a child during WWII, but maybe he can be considered. But if King Michael was the last one, then this is indeed the end of an era. 😦

I think people consider Tsar Simeon as the last Head of State from WWII, but I agree with you that it is the end of an era. King Michael was a fascinating figure and he takes with him many observations from a lost world.